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It’s long after midnight when they all finally return to the house, post Robotnik battle, and Sonic blearily shakes off some of his exhaustion as he waits for Tom to unlock the door. Who knew using your weird alien powers to fight an evil scientist would be so tiring…
The door is finally unlocked and Sonic stumbles in after the two humans, adrenaline from the fight fading and leaving him feeling more exhausted than he’s ever felt in his entire life.
“Oh my god”. Bits of dry wall, dirt, and broken glass are scattered throughout the kitchen and living room. Maddie blinks twice, shocked at the state of the house. mouth gaping open, before she promptly shakes it off. “Nope. Not dealing with that tonight”.
She kicks off her shoes by the door heads down the hall, and Tom follows her. Sonic lingers awkwardly by the doorway and frowns. Why did he even bother following them here? He was just gonna go back to his cave tonight anyways. He shivers at the thought of sleeping in the cold Montana night after such a long weary few days.
“Oh! Here”.
Tom is standing in front of him, a fluffy grey blanket in his hands. “I know it’s not much, but our couch is actually super comfy”. He sends Sonic a tired but comforting grin.
Sonic blinks in surprise, gingerly taking the blanket from his hands. It’s soft. “Oh and shoes off bud. I mean-“. Tom paused to look around the house, with bullet holes in its walls, and pieces of broken drywall littering the floor with a wince. “Honestly, it can’t get much worse. I’m not even gonna attempt to touch any of this tonight”.
He turns back to Sonic with a smile. “Uh, our bathroom is down the hall and uh, if you get hungry feel free to raid the fridge? We’re probably gonna be out until...”.
“Past noon!”. Maddie shouts from their bedroom, though there’s a clear hint of amusement strung through it. Tom just chuckles and rolls his eyes fondly.
“So it’s…okay if I stay the night?”.
Tom looked momentarily surprised. “What? Yeah, of course! It’s late anyways and who knows what government people could be out there searching around. You’re safest here”. He places a calming hand on the hedgehogs shoulder and leads him to the couch. It’s a definitely seen better days but as he sits down on the plush cushions, he can feel that Tom was right about it being comfy. “It’s been a long few crazy days hasn’t it?”.
Sonic let’s himself return the smile, before a yawn tears out of his mouth. Now that he’s actually sat down and relaxed he feels ready to drop.
“Oh! Let me go get you a pillow. Be right back”.
Sonic feels himself nod more than he actually realizes he’s nodding. He moves to lazily kick off his shoes and lays down, shifting around until he gets comfortable. He lets a sleepy smile form on his face as he blearily watches Ozzy trot into the room and jump up next to him on the couch. He doesn’t even have the energy to argue against the dogs presence. He finally lets his eyes slip closed.
Tom returns with a pillow and a tired smile at the sight before him. Sonic with the blanket tangled around his legs and Ozzy cuddling up next to him, tail wagging happily.
Tom scratches Ozzy behind the ears as he murmurs. “What are we gonna do with him, boy?”.
Ozzy just wags his tail some more in lieu of response.
Sonic, thankfully dead to world, doesn’t stir when Tom places the pillow under his head, and untangles the blanket from his feet and properly tucks him in. “Night bud”.
As he leaves the room, He flicks off the lights with a smile.
-/-
Sonic, for being a walking talking ball of energy, apparently had the same sleep schedule as a four year old.
He wakes up with Tom and Maddie, and does whatever they do for that first part of the day-sometimes it’s watching all the Fast and Furious movies, or it’s Tom and him playing catch out in the backyard, others it’s Maddie teaching him to bake and or how to ride a bike- and then he’ll immediately take a nap sometime around noon. He somewhat resents it the first time Maddie and Tom make the embarrassing connection. and so in the name of dignity he tries to avoid the naps after that.
He’s determined to stay up throughout the entire next day. He helps them make lunch, and fights the sleep off as much as possible. He gets a bit grumpy- and pointedly ignores any soft hearted attempts to get him to lay down- and makes it to seven which he declares late enough to be able to go to sleep and finally passes out on his bed.
He wakes up unnaturally early and grumpier than yesterday, and groans as he sits up from his bed and stomps down the stairs.
Tom is in the kitchen when he gets there, nursing a cup of coffee as he scans the towns newspaper. His eyebrow raises when he spots the blue hedgehog clamber up on a seat at the table and groans miserably as he places his head down on the hardwood.
“You okay bud?”.
He’s answered with another groan.
Tom doesn’t respond to it, taking his time sipping his coffee and waiting for the sleepy hedgehog to form his words.
“Just tired. I woke up too early”.
“I’d say”. Tom chuckles. “Normally we don’t see you until much later”.
“Can I have some coffee?”.
Tom snorts at that. “Absolutely not. You’d be bouncing off the walls”.
“And that’s bad... why?”.
“…you’re not getting any coffee”.
“Fine”.
“Why don’t you just take a nap? I know we might’ve embarrassed you with what we said the other day, but a lot of kids your age take naps. Heck, me and Maddie still take naps sometimes too. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about”.
Sonic drummed his fingers on the table in thought, hesitating to speak. “It’s just…I’m not a baby”. He finally mumbled and Tom shook his head, a bemused grin on his face.
“Of course not. Never said you were. Lots of adults take naps. They’re important. And they’re especially good for growing kids”.
Sonic still seemed hesitant, so thought on it for a moment until Tom came up with an idea. “Okay. How about I just tucker you out then?”.
“Tucker me out?” Sonic tilts his head to side. “What does that mean?”.
“It means we can do a bunch of fun stuff and it’ll tire you out and you won’t have to be embarrassed about taking a nap. It’s natural for people to nap in the middle of the day after having a long afternoon”.
Sonic finally seems to agree with the idea and slowly nods, and Tom claps his hands together with purpose. “Alright! Let’s do this”.
-
Maddie sighed in relief as she stepped inside the house, locking the door behind her and kicking off her shoes. It had been a long work day and she was ready to unwind with a possible movie night with her boys. Maybe they’d finally convince Sonic to watch a movie that didn’t star Keanu.
Hearing no noise from downstairs she walked deeper into the house, passing the kitchen where half a tray of baked cookies was on the counter, and peering into the backyard where she was pretty sure that the two had played something if the muddy twin pairs of shoes left by the door meant anything. She was preparing to yell up into the attic where she often found them messing around, but at the sight laid out in front of her, she stopped.
The living room, to be frank, was a mess. Blankets strewn about, hastily tied down or tucked under cushions to hold them in place. A board game was half set up and clearly in the midst of being played. And in the middle of the whole mess of a blanket fort were her two boys. Tom was on his stomach, head pillowed on his arms, and curled near his back was Sonic, game piece still loosely held in his hand as he snoozed with Tom. Maddie stifled a giggle as Sonic snuggled closer near Tom and Toms hand came unconsciously to wrap around the hedgehog and bring him closer.
She decided that she would get started on dinner later. After she joined in their little nap. And of course took a picture.
-/-
The storm that hits the house that night is fierce.
Wind rattles the roof, and lightning flashes outside and Sonic shoots awake suddenly, startled by a loud clap of thunder. He sits up in his racecar bed, knees drawn up to his chest as he tries to breathe. The thunder claps again and he yelps this time, yanking his blanket to cover his head and cowering underneath it. It takes him a moment to realize he’s shaking.
He wondered if Tom and Maddie were woken up by the storm. Probably not. They were grown ups after all and from what he’d noticed grown ups never really seemed to be scared of much. Besides whatever those ‘taxes’ things were.
Lightning struck over his window, bathing his room in a flash of white for a moment and in the light he noticed that Ozzy wasn’t in bed with him like he normally was. It wasn’t completely abnormal for the dog to choose to sleep somewhere else but he had been there when Sonic had fallen asleep last night.
He whined nervously as another clap of thunder seemed to shake the house and decided he’d rather not be alone at the moment. He’d go lure Ozzy back to his room with dog treats or something. He definitely didn’t wanna bother Tom or Maddie.
He crept down the attic steps with his blanket wrapped around him like a cape, careful to avoid the fourth step that would always loudly creak. He tiptoed past Tom and Maddie’s bedroom. If he hadn’t been so distracted with sneaking past maybe he would’ve noticed the door was cracked open.
“Ozzy?”. He whispered out as quietly as he could, scanning the living room for the Golden retriever. He didn’t see him. “Maybe he’s in the kitchen? Getting a midnight snack?”. He mumbled to himself, then shook his head at his habit of talking to himself. It was hard to break after years of isolation.
Creeping into the kitchen wasn’t difficult. They’d all discovered his apparent ability to see in the dark(at least better than a human could) during an accidental power outage last month. Still, he had his guard up.
He looked around for any sign of the dog before sighing. Maybe he’d just have to try and stick the night out by himself. He paused, before shrugging. “A midnight snack might help”. He turned to the fridge behind him and opened it, wincing at the sudden bright light that softly flooded the darkness of the kitchen. “Hmm. No, no, nah, nope-ooohh cookies!”. He did a little dance of excitement reaching for the treats.
“I believe the rule was no sugar before bed?”.
He jumped, dropping the cookies to the floor and whirling around to face Tom who was standing unimpressed by the dinner table.
The two stood in a silent stare off until Ozzy trotted in and happily nabbed a cookie off the floor faster than either could think to stop him.
“Now you show up”. Sonic muttered, feeling embarrassed. He was suddenly appreciative of his ability to see in the dark better, hoping Tom wouldn’t catch the blush spreading under his fur.
“What are you doing up? And what were you looking for Ozzy for?”.
He patted said dog on the head as he gently pushed him out of the way to he could pick up the rest of the cookies that were dropped.
“I uh... it’s nothing. I mean obviously it’s not nothing I just. I mean who wouldn’t want to find Ozzy? Love this guy!”. He awkwardly patted Ozzy’s back, and was rewarded with a tail wag.
Tom shot him a knowing look. “Truth, please?”.
Sonic paused, but another crack of thunder made him flinch and he eventually sighed. “Okay okay, donut lord I’ll spill the beans”. He shifted his feet nervously. “I was... I was kinda scared by the storm, I guess. It’s silly because I’m not a little kid or anything, but… I just didn’t wanna be alone”.
Tom seemed a bit surprised by that answer. He took in the hedgehogs anxious body language, and how he clearly didn’t seem comfortable talking about this, and shook his head fondly. “Storm woke you up too, huh? Tell you what... wanna hop in bed with us?”. He offered, with a head nod in the direction of the bedroom.
“What? Wait, really? Are you sure? I don’t wanna bother you, and I’m not some sort of baby y’know so-“.
Tom sighed, and leaned down to be at eye level with the tween. “It’s okay to be scared. Y'know, Maddie’s not a fan of storms either. You’d be doing us a favor honestly”.
Sonic ponders it for a moment before grinning sheepishly. “Well… if it’ll help Maddie how can I say no?”.
Ozzy follows them as they leave the kitchen and Maddie sits up from where she’s leaned against the bed frame, a book in her hands. “Oh hey. I was wondering what was taking you so long?”.
She and Tom had a silent conversation and he gestured lightly to the sheepish hedgehog standing silent beside him, seemingly about to change his mind and decline his invitation to not have to be alone for the night.
Maddie smiled and saved her place in the book, setting it on the bedside table. “Come on in, we got a kingsize bed for a reason”. Sonic still seemed hesitant, but she made a dramatic show of doing grabby hands at him and it got a giggle out of him as he climbed onto the bed.
“Thank goodness my boys are here. Now it’s nice and safe”. Tom slid into next to them, lips quirking up into a smile as he watched Sonic curl up in the space between him and Maddie and quickly fall asleep, hand fisted around their blankets. He and Maddie share a fond look before Tom turns off the bedside lamp, and their little family headed off for a peaceful night of sleep together as the rain pattered against the window.
-/-
Sonic, like most teenage boys, isn’t a fan of waking up early.
Or waking up anytime before noon. He sleeps through alarms, he sleeps through Ozzy jumping onto his bed, he sleeps through Tom’s voice calling his name up the attic stairs.
Sonic wakes up to three things. One, is the smell of breakfast. Or any food really. Chilly dogs get him up faster than lighting itself. The smell of Maddie’s pancakes (Tom isn’t the best cook but they eat his slightly burnt pancakes with pride anyways) are enough for him to reluctantly climb out of bed.
Two, is Maddie. She’ll climb the attic stairs with soft steps and and quiet humming of whatever song she’s got stuck in head. She’ll sit at the end of his bed and reach over to pet him between his ears-right where he likes it- and and hum loud enough to bring him from his slumber. And he’ll yawn and stretch reminiscent to a cat, and blush when she calls it adorable and let her tug him up from his blankets and downstairs to breakfast.
And three, is Tom. He lacks Maddie’s gentleness as he walks up the creaking stairs-paying no mind to how the fourth step always creaks extra loudly- and plunks down on his bed and spouts whatever bad dad joke he found from the joke book Wade got him for his last birthday. And then he’ll poke Sonic in the stomach, his most ticklish spot and will laugh when the hedgehog groans at how bad the joke is. He badgers Sonic enough that getting out of bed is the only clear option and he grins smugly whenever Sonic admits the the joke wasn’t actually too bad.
Sonic finds he doesn’t mind it all.